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Sunday, June 22, 2008

Angry, Irrational and Hysterical

I decided to dedicate this post to the code words typically attributed to feminists. Of course you cannot point out social injustice without being angry, irrational, and hysterical. All logical people naturally exist as automatons, going through their days parroting the status quo. Only crazy people would even begin to think that the system we live under could possibly be unfair. What do you mean all men operate with gender privilege? In fact even pointing out that calling a feminist angry, irrational, and hysterical is sexist, is enough to further entrench the views of some.

Angry: When aimed at a black female such as myself this is never a neutral comment. The angry black woman is a social construction that is used to uphold racial, and gender hierarchy. In a wider gender discourse labeling someone as angry is an attempt at silencing, and dismissing. Are there issues in this world worth being angry about..yes, but does that mean that we live a life filled with anger,...no. Even if we admit to anger, why is this a bad thing? When I read in the newspaper about women being murdered, raped and abused, would it make me a better person if I just put a smile on my face, and said c'est la vie? Perhaps I should consult with my doctor, and become yet another one of those over medicated Prozac twits, so that I can dull my feelings of genuine outrage every time women are treated like disposable bodies without any value. How can I not be thrilled knowing that women still make less than men, are increasingly denied access to birth control, and that women are unnecessarily being castrated by doctors, who believe that if you are past child bearing age, your uterus is the equivalent of a spare tire.

Irrational: This is another one of my favorite taunts. The world just works this way, and if you cannot see that, then you are irrational. Ask yourself do the majority of people think like you? If the answer is no, then you must be irrational. Lets just follow this ridiculous argument to its irrational conclusion, with an example that is easy to relate to. Before the civil rights movement in the United States many people felt that segregation was a good thing. Many people felt that it was right to treat blacks as inferior based solely on the color of our skin. So here is my question, rational thinkers, was segregation right because the majority of people felt that it was right? Was slavery right, because the majority of people felt that it was not immoral to own a human being? Believe it or not, there is such a thing as the tyranny of the majority, and just because a vast number of people believe that a situation is correct, does not mean that it is not abusive, or harmful to another. But what would I know, I'm just another one of those irrational feminists.

Hysterical: This is another way of saying that even though an injustice is happening it really isn't all that bad. There, there dear... You are just over reacting. No we don't have a global rape culture, even though the United Nations finally made it a war crime. You see when feminists talk it is just irritating noise, useless fodder without any relation to reality...in a word hysterical. We hysterical women go on about rape and sexual harassment, even though as an individual you may fall into the lucky 10% that manages to live without ever being raped, or harassed sexually. Of course it is hysterical for us to be so concerned with that 90% figure, when rational and happy people would fixate on the 10% figure. You hysterical feminists go on as though all men are rapists or are not tampered with sexually (please ignore the differential in experience between men and women to validate the aforementioned commentary) It is not as if we are entitled to bodily integrity because everyone knows, that female bodies are for male consumption. In fact we won't ever get things right until we start thinking from a patriarchal point of view. You see the world greatest thinkers were men, and so we should never expect anything worth while to come from the mind of an hysterical, angry, irrational female. Don't even deny it, because then you will be hysterical and irrational. Facts, are facts and we should never ever make a situation larger than it is. Our problem is that we are not correctly ciphering information from a male perspective. Ahhh...it occurs to me perhaps the problem is that we are too focused on our needs. I know that women do the majority of the housekeeping, child rearing, and elder care, but we can do more damn it. Men deserve more comfort than they are currently receiving. Perhaps if we took the time to wash the royal penis that is currently trying to rule our lives daily, we would learn through humility that being hysterical, irrational and angry is counter to the needs of the important half of humanity.

Despite the taunts, and the jeers I refuse to submit my will to another. My power is precious, and it will not be used to maintain a system that is built upon oppressing women and POC. Yeah I know that makes me an 'unwoman', an anathema even, but looking in the mirror and liking who I am as a person is worth something to me. It would certainly be safer and easier for me to identify with my oppressors, but that would mean a life devoid of agency and autonomy. So call me your worst, deny your gender privilege, but I will live my life on my terms and by so doing honor the spirit of my foremothers, who died so that I could have the right to declare myself an independent autonomous woman.

4 comments:

"Despite the taunts, and the jeers I refuse to submit my will to another. My power is precious, and it will not be used to maintain a system that is built upon oppressing women and POC. Yeah I know that makes me an 'unwoman', an anathema even, but looking in the mirror and liking who I am as a person is worth something to me. It would certainly be safer and easier for me to identify with my oppressors, but that would mean a life devoid of agency and autonomy. So call me your worst, deny your gender privilege, but I will live my life on my terms and by so doing honoring the spirit of my foremothers, who died so that I could have the right to declare myself an independent autonomous woman."

This deserves a power to the people fist in the air right about now..

"but I will live my life on my terms and by so doing honoring the spirit of my foremothers, who died so that I could have the right to declare myself an independent autonomous woman."

Beautiful I give praise to my foremothers everyday and will never let their spirit die.

Intense Debate Comments

About Me

I am the mother of two darling little boys that fill my life with hope. They have inspired me to help raise awareness of the issues that plague this little blue planet.
If you are looking for a blog that is all about how wonderful and rosy this world is, turn right because this space will not be for you. I am a committed humanist. I believe in the value of people over commodities. I believe in the human right to food, clothing, shelter, and education. I am pacifist, anti-racist, WOC. My truth may not be your truth, but I intend to speak it nonetheless.
Please feel free to direct questions or commentary womanistmusings@gmail.com